Drenching heavy rains that quickly caused street flooding problems hit parts of Marion County Saturday afternoon.
The Salem Water Plant recorded 2.2 inches of rain that mostly fell in less than an hour. The Centralia Water Treatment Plant recorded 1.82 inches of rain.
Salem Police were called to help motorists who became stranded in high waters on West Main, West Whitaker, and South College Street. The northbound entrance ramp to I-57 was underwater and closed for more than an hour after the rain had ended. Water across southbound I-57 at mile marker 112 four miles south of Salem caused one pickup truck to hydroplane into the median before traffic came to a standstill until water levels went down.
The heavy rains washed out a culvert on the Walnut Hill/Baseline Road between Foxville Road and the Union Pacific Railroad Tracks closing that stretch of road until further notice.
One gate of Raccoon Lake was open two inches to get rid of excess water, not enough to cause flooding concerns downstream. The Salem Reservoir came up five and a half inches after the rainstorm passed.
Traffic negotiates water across West Main and Illinois after heavy rains Saturday afternoon. Photo by Jordan Smith.
Traffic travels West Whitaker across a flooded creek that has overtaken the roadway. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
